Men like Prince Andrew were once celebrated as ‘sexy and heroic’, says Keeley Hawes

‘It’s easy to forget... but we celebrated those men’, the Scoop star shared

Men like Prince Andrew were once considered “sexy and heroic” Keeley Hawes has said, reflecting on the Duke of York’s now-infamous Newsnight interview which has been recreated in a new movie.

In Scoop, Hawes plays the duke’s private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, who was instrumental in arranging the car-crash interview, and whose admiration for her boss clouds her view of his character.

Discussing how attitudes have changed since the 1980s, she said: “It’s easy to forget – and I was growing up during that period – but we celebrated those men.”

“Bill Wyman and his teenage bride, Randy Andy in his military suit. They were sexy – it sounds disgusting now to say it, but it was heroic.”

Scoop depicts the events behind the broadcast with BBC presenter Emily Maitlis, played by The Crown actor Gillian Anderson while Andrew is played by Diplomat star Rufus Sewell.

Hawes says that Andrew was seen as ‘sexy’ and ‘heroic’ at one time (Getty Images)

Elsewhere, the Line of Duty actor said her character’s misplaced admiration for the royal was understandable.

“The people that I’ve spoken to who know Prince Andrew are full of love for him,” she said. “Because he is a great guy. Of course he is,” she told TheTelegraph.

The theatre star immersed herself in Thirsk’s world to better portray her in the movie admitting: “She [Thirsk] wanted everyone to see him through her eyes, and through her eyes, he’s a great guy.”

However, she acknowledged that the time in which the duke was revered was a different one, before allegations of abuse had emerged.

The movie covers Prince Andrew’s infamous ‘car-crash’ interview (PETER MOUNTAIN/NETFLIX. All Rights Reserved)

“It’s very difficult now to take yourself back to that and imagine through a totally different lens how that behaviour was viewed,” she said.

“I’m not sure those men did think they were doing anything wrong at that time. They were quite open about it, and of course the tide turns and we all go, ‘Actually, that’s really not on.’”

She also revealed her research showed that the prince’s team had thought the interview “had gone really well”, celebrating with high-fives until social media backlash turned the tide.

Netflix’s Scoop is based on the book Scoops: Behind the Scenes of the BBC’s Most Shocking Interviews by former Newsnight producer Sam McAlister, who is played in the film by Billie Piper.

The prince was grilled by British journalist Maitlis over his friendship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein as well as his relationship with Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexually assaulting her when she was 17. Andrew has always denied all claims.